Unearthing The Metal Underground: Youth Gone Wild

A friend of mine often refers to heavy metal and hardcore as "children's music." (No, not this kind of children's music). Today, I am going to grudgingly give him some ammunition for his snobbery, as Unearthing The Metal Underground takes a look at two bands who exhibit extraordinary talent and enthusiasm for playing metal, despite being younger than probably every member of this website.

Gauchos de Acero (Los Gauchos)

Some readers here may remember Gauchos de Acero, as they became something of an internet sensation among heavy metal fans in 2007 when videos of three young boys from Argentina were posted by their father, showing them covering the likes of Slipknot, Pantera and fellow South Americans, Sepultura. Although known as Los Gauchos, the duo did not originally have a name, Los Gauchos being a moniker assigned to them by YouTube users, owing to their user name, "gauchosalta." Not only did they become a hit on the internet, but they also attracted the attention of Argentinean promoters, not least when they were booked to perform at Cosquin Rock 2007, an open air festival which packed in over 20,000 spectators. They were even noticed by the Argentinean government, who supplied them with sound equipment!

Gauchos de Acero - "Refuse/Resist"

Gauchos de Acero - "Walk"

Twisted State Of Mind

Merely two days ago, I visited a bar called Riffs to watch a friends cover band. Opening the festivities were a band named, Twisted State of Mind, who I'd heard were another metal band. What I hadn't heard was that all three members are aged between eleven and twelve years old. It is no word of a lie when I say that I was blown away by their performance, as they fully engaged the audience with no trace of timidity. What's more, their music itself is very impressive, each member showcasing a great knowledge of their instrument and attacking it with full force. The performance in question grabbed everyone by the throat, when singer/guitarist, Luke decided to finish the set in true rock and roll style, and destroy his guitar by slamming it as hard as he could on the ground, helped along the way by bass player Alfie, who decided his four string should be part of the fun too. Bloodstock, are you watching?

Twisted State Of Mind - "End Of Everything"

Twisted State of Mind - "Dig Your Grave"

Twisted State Of Mind - "Stand Up And Fight"

Yuto Miyazawa

Once again, I've copped out and gone with a popular internet video here, but as this was posted four years ago, I'm hoping some of you reading this didn't hear about it at the time. In 2008, a video surfaced of an eight year old boy from Japan named Yuto Miyazawa performing the Ozzy Osbourne classic, "Crazy Train" (as well as Eric Clapton) and, following in the footsteps of Los Gauchos, became a hit with metal fans worldwide. How big was the video? Ozzy mother forkin' Osbourne himself invited young Yuto to perform the song with him at the 2009 edition of Blizzcon in Anaheim, California. This wasn't to be his only appearance with the legendary singer either, as the next year, Yuto Miyazawa achieved every young metal fans dream and performed at Ozzfest.

Yuto Miyazawa on the Ellen Degeneres show

Ozzy Osbourne featuring Yuto Miyazawa - "Crazy Train"

It seems all hope is not lost for future generations when it comes to music, as many young kids all over the world appear to be honing their craft and charming people the world over by performing a brand of music that thirty years ago would have been considered dangerous by the wives of certain politicians.

What did you think of this week's bands? Please feel free to comment about your favorite bands in this article in the comments below, and check back in next Monday as we continue to unearth more underground metal bands.

Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com for four years and has been a metal fan for ten years, going so far as to travel abroad for metal shows.

Nice article. My son's band is starting to get a lot of attention too. He's ten and his band "Unavailable" consists of teen and preteen boys. They cover everything from Ozzy to Metallica. Google them (try "Ryan Watson Unavailable")